Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

374 / ANARCHISM
selves, and, for that reason, we call it a "revolution of the masses" and a "direct revolution."
Since it shall be a direct revolution of the masses, the fe rmentation and
expansion of their enthusiasm fo r it transcends any numerical comparison in the revolution
between the weak and the strong. The result of the revolution, whether a success
or a fa ilure, always goes beyond the ordinary meaning of warfare: the masses
without money and arms defeat a monarch with millions of soldiers and hundreds of
thousands of wealth, and expel fo reign invaders. The first step toward our revolution,
therefore, is to demand the awakening of the masses.
How can the masses be awakened
The masses will awaken neither by having a divine person, a sage, or a gallant
hero, who makes the masses "awaken," nor by hearing vehement statements such as
"masses, let's awaken" and "the masses, be awakened."
Destruction by the masses and for the masses of all obstacles, such as inequality,
unnaturalness, and absurdity, that stand in the way of improving the masses' livelihood,
is the only way to "awaken the masses." In other words, the masses who have awakened
in advance should become the revolutionary forerunners for the whole masses ...
Because of starvation, cold, plight, pain, wives' shouting, children's crying, pressures
to pay taxes, pressures to pay back private loans, no freedom of action, and
other various pressures, the general masses can neither live nor die. In this situation,
the robber has instituted the politics of robbery that are the main causes of the pressures.
If the robber is knocked down, all the facilities ofthe robber are destroyed and
good news [about this[ reaches the four seas; all the masses, then, would shed sympathetic
tears. Consequently, all ofthem would realize that, besides death from starvatiulI,
there is rather a road caiied revoiution. Ifthe brave out of righteous indignation
and the weak out of pain could come along the road and relentlessly advance to influence
the masses universally, so that they could make a great revolution under nation-wide
unity, that would definitely make a day when the crafty, cunning and cruel
Robber Japan would be expelled. Therefore, if we want to awaken the masses, overthrow
the rule of the Robber, and thus open up a new life for our nation, raising one
hundred thousand soldiers and launching a rebellion should be considered, for they
are incomparable to throwing a bomb or to the thousands of billions of sheets of
newspaper and magazine writings.
If a violent revolution of the masses does not occur, so be it. However, when it
does, like a stone rolling down from a cliff, it won't stop until it reaches its destination ...
The road to revolution shall be opened through destruction. However, we destroy
in order not just to destroy but to construct. If we do not know how to con-